Marker Title:
Butterfield Overland Stage LineAddress: SH 18, S of GrandfallsCounty: WardYear Marker Erected: 1936Marker Location: On SH 18 about 2
miles S. of GrandfallsMarker Text: One of the longest stage routes ever established,
the Southern Overland Mail Line (Butterfield Route) which provided semi-weekly service St.
Louis to San Francisco, 1858-1861. Followed substantially the route of this highway
through Ward County.

Christ The King
Catholic Church/Sands Art Center

Marker Title:Christ
The King Catholic Church/Sands Art CenterAddress: 1000 N. Main StreetCity: MonahansCounty: WardYear Marker Erected: 1992Designations: Recorded Texas Historic
LandmarkMarker Location: 1000 N. Main (also N.
SH 18) at corner of Main & J Streets, MonahansMarker Text: Area Catholics held religious services in their homes
beginning in the mid-1920s until a donation of money and two lots here in 1938 enabled the
congregation to construct this modestly detailed structure known as Christ the King
Catholic Church. Although the building was expanded in 1954, the congregation relocated in
1961. In 1965 the building became the Sands Art Center for art workshops, exhibits, craft
shows, and occasional community theatre. (Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1992)

Early Public Library, Vicinity
of Barstow

Marker Title: Vicinity of Early
Public LibraryAddress: FM 516 & 873City: BarstowCounty: Ward Year Marker Erected: 1967Marker Location: Jct. of Mackey (FM
515) and FM 873, BarstowMarker Text: The Republic of Texas set a cultural example by
legislation for a state library in 1839. In 1874 cities were authorized to establish
public libraries, but most were privately financed. A library near here about 1890 was a
gift of Miss Anna Gould, a daughter of railroad magnate Jay Gould, when she was visiting
the stone quarry 4.5 miles east. She established the library, the first in Ward County,
which was not organized until 1892, for families near the quarry. Most Texas counties now
have free public libraries, since a 1919 law granted this privilege.

Marker Title: Grandfalls Union
ChurchAddress: SH 18 & 329City: GrandfallsCounty: WardYear Marker Erected: 1966 Marker Location: At the intersection
of SH 18 and SH 329 in GrandfallsMarker Text: Built by three Protestant groups, 1910. First church
building in town founded 1897.

Holman Hotel, Old

Marker Title: Old Holman HotelAddress: 114 W. Sealy (US 80)City: MonahansCounty: WardYear Marker Erected: 1966Designations: Recorded Texas Historic
LandmarkMarker Location: 114 W. Sealy (US 80),
MonahansMarker Text: Built about 1910 by Mr. and Mrs. Jas. R. Holman, 1898
settlers in Monahans. "Dad" Holman had a lumber and coal business, dray, and
livery stable; he met daily trains and took home seekers of salesmen to the family hotel.
One of family's six children was Eugene Holman (1895-1962), petroleum industry leader who
rose in 1944 to presidency of Standard Oil of New Jersey, the world's largest oil company.
Outstanding in labor relations, he was an advisor to U. S. Dept. of Commerce; won (1960)
American Petroleum Institute gold medal of distinguished achievement.

Marker Title: Million Barrel TankAddress: US 80City: MonahansCounty: WardYear Marker Erected: ?Marker Location: At the Million Barrel
Museum, on US 80, at eastern edge of Monahans.Marker Text: A project of the Shell Oil Company, the construction of
this oil storage tank in 1928 was the result of an oil boom in the area. Built to
accommodate crude oil until it could be shipped to refineries, the tank was constructed by
crews working on a 24-hour schedule using hand operated and horse-drawn equipment.
Covering eight acres of land, the tank was able to hold over one million barrels of oil.
It was filled to capacity only once. Efforts to convert it into a water-filled recreation
center in the 1950s were unsuccessful, and it became a museum in 1986.

Monahans Sandhills State Park
and Museum

Marker Title: Monahans Sandhills
State Park and MuseumAddress: US 80.IH 20City: MonahansCounty: WardYear Marker Erected: ?Marker Location: About 6 miles E. on
Monahans on US 80/I-20 at visitors center in Sandhills State Park.Marker Text: In these shifting seas of sand, rich in stone evidences
of primitive men, today's visitors find flint points, sandstone metates and menos of
peoples who were here as early as 10,000 years ago and late as the 1870's. Bones of giant
mammoths and gigantic bison prove that this desert was in post-glacial times a land of
lakes and tall grasses. Cabeza de Vaca in 1535 and Antonio de Espejo in 1583 encountered
Jumanos, historic tribe which hunted here. In 1590, Castano de Sosa found a tribe he
called Vaqueros because they lived by hunting cows (buffalo)--the tribe later called
apaches. For more than 100 years at this stop on great Comanche War Trail extending into
Mexico. apache fought Comanche for pools of water and acorns of dwarf Shinnery oak. The
California or Emigrant Trail through the Sand Hills started with the gold rush. Was first
mapped in September 1849 by Capt. Randolph B. Marcy, U. S. topographical engineers, and in
1854 by Capt. John Pope, who explored a railroad route toward the Pacific Ocean. 3,000
acres of Sand Hills were designated in 1957 as a state park, after acquisition and
construction of museum by Ward County. Has picnic facilities.

Marker Title:
Old Railroad Section HouseAddress: US 80/IH-20City: MonahansCounty: Ward Year Marker Erected: 1965Designations: Recorded Texas Historic
LandmarkMarker Location: About 6 miles E. of
Monahans on US 80/I-20 in Sandhills State Park.Marker Text: Sand Hills section house. Built 1903 by Texas &
Pacific Rwy., for one of its track foremen who were stationed every 20 miles along road.
Section houses in Permian Basin had water and human aid for men sand-bogged or stranded in
storms.

Rattlesnake Bomber Base

Marker Title: Rattlesnake Bomber
BaseAddress: IH-20 at Exit 66City: PyoteCounty: WardYear Marker Erected: 1984Marker Location: On IH-20 West bound
service Rd, Exit 66 (Pyote, Kermit exit) across IH-20 from West Texas children Jail. Pyote
Marker Text: Nicknamed for the numerous
rattlesnake dens that were uncovered during its construction, Pyote Army Air Base was
established in 1942 to train replacement crews for bombers during World War II. Located on
2,700 acres of University of Texas land, the base consisted of two 8,400-foot runways,
five large hangars, and hundreds of building used to house 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers and
2,000 civilians. On Jan. 1, 1943, the 19th Bombardment Group (later known as the 19th
Combat Crew) trained B-17 bomber crews. Pyote came to be highly regarded after the
transition to B-29s was made in July 1944. During the post-war years, the base served as a
storage facility; at one time housing as many as 2,000 aircraft, including the "Enola
Gay', the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb. Pyote also was used for a short time
as a radar station, but by 1966 it was no longer economical to maintain such a large base
for so small an operation, and the facility was closed.

Ward County

Marker Title: Ward CountyAddress: IH 20, East of PyoteCity: PyoteCounty: WardYear Marker Erected:1936Marker Location: In Roadside rest area
on east bound IH-20 about 4 1/2 miles East of PyoteMarker Text: Formed from Tom Green County; created February 26, 1887,
organized March 29, 1892. Named in honor of Thomas William Ward, 1807-1872, at the
storming of Bexar, December, 1835; Commissioner of the General Land Office, 1841-1848;
United States consul at Panama, 1853-1856. Barstow, County Seat.

Ward County Bank, Old

Marker Title: Old Ward County BankAddress: Mackey Ave.City: BarstowCounty: WardYear Marker Erected: 1962Designations: Recorded Texas Historic
LandmarkMarker Location: Mackey Ave.Marker Text: C. E. Pierce, an early advocate of irrigated agricultural
lands for the Pecos River valley, had this building constructed in 1901 to house Ward
County's first bank. Never incorporated, the bank lost money due to crop failures and
closed in 1907. Constructed of red sandstone from the nearby Barstow Quarry, the building
exhibits influences of the Romanesque revival style and features an interesting corner
entrance.